If only Trudeau's immigration strategy was about what's best for Canada

Justin Trudeau's immigration policies are not determined by what is best for you.

(This column originally appeared in the Toronto Sun)

By: Candice Malcolm

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is giving up Canada’s natural advantages when it comes to immigration, and he’s doing it to score cheap political points.

Instead of being smart and strategic about who we let into our country, the Trudeau government seems to prefer selecting failed asylum seekers from other Western democracies.

A Postmedia access-to-information request showed the chaos and confusion in the federal government after Trudeau sent out his infamous tweet inviting the world’s refugees to come to Canada.

On January 28, 2017, one day after U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning migrants from failed states and countries with hardline Islamists governments, Trudeau responded on Twitter: “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada.”

Trudeau’s message made international headlines and was widely seen as a response to Trump’s firm stance on migration from countries with terrorist ties.

In the months that followed, Canada saw a flood of migrants illegally crossing our southern border. More than 50,000 people entered illegally to make asylum claims in 2017, most of whom do not meet Canada’s definition of a refugee.

While border officials were scrambling, civil servants in the immigration department struggled to answer media questions about whether Canada was accepting migrants being turned away from the U.S.

The confusion didn’t end there. Canadian diplomats also saw a surge in questions surrounding Canada’s refugee policy following Trudeau’s tweet.

“Clients are asking if it is true that Canada will accept the refugees the U.S. are rejecting, and what is the process to do so… I would imagine that missions all around the world are seeing these enquiries increasing since the weekend,” wrote one official.

Canada’s immigration policy is not designed to accept migrants rejected from our neighbour and closest ally. Canada should never accept asylum seekers with deportation orders or those who were living illegally in the U.S. — a policy that could undermine all Canadians’ ability to cross the U.S. border with ease.

But thanks to our virtue-signaling prime minister, that’s what Canada got. Tens of thousands of migrants sneaking into Canada to avoid being deported from the U.S.

And this isn’t the only case of Canada taking rejected asylum seekers from one of our allies.

We learned this week that the Trudeau government is working on another deal to accept illegal migrants rejected by Israel. These migrants entered Israel illegally and come from fundamentalist Islamist societies, including Somalia and Sudan — terrorist hotbeds included in Trump’s travel ban.

Why would Canada volunteer to accept a group of migrants the Israeli government has labeled “illegal infiltrators”?

Perhaps for the same reason Canada volunteered to accept migrants the U.S. deemed too dangerous. Because our prime minister is a publicity hound who cares more about his voting base than the future of our country.

Millions of people around the world say they want to live in Canada. This allows us to select only the best and the brightest. We live in a naturally strategic location, away from failed states and terrorist hotspots. This helps shield us from unvetted terrorists posing as refugees.

Canada can be selective. We can choose migrants who are truly persecuted, those who don’t pose a threat to our safety and those who will integrate into the Canadian family.

Instead, Trudeau is throwing away our strategic advantages and accepting migrants based on who will attract the most media attention and who will bring in the most votes.